


Lab Days

by Lightning515



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Peter needs sleep, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony and Peter spend time together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 03:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20575877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightning515/pseuds/Lightning515
Summary: Tony always enjoyed tinkering in his lab. It was his own space, where he was in control and could create something new, something that would help people.It was a place for him to be alone.Or.A glance at Tony's days in his labs and how that changed over the years.





	Lab Days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WaiiKitsune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaiiKitsune/gifts).

> Once again, thanks to [ kilala2tail](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kilala2tail/pseuds/kilala2tail) who helped me read it over a few times and stopped me from editing it even more. Otherwise I would still be stuck in the beginning of this fic lol

Tony always enjoyed tinkering in his lab. It was his own space, where he was in control and could create something new, something that would help people. A place to escape from the world that just demanded so much from him and where he can just focus on whatever he is working on at the time. Many things were invented here: a new element, his suits, plans for his new inventions, his robots. Most knew not to disturb him in the labs (unless it was urgent, but everyone always had different opinions of what urgent was).

It was a place for him to be alone. 

Eventually his labs included Bruce, who was sometimes there doing whatever science thing he was trying out at the time, while Tony worked on whatever new thing he came up with to help the Avengers. There was small talk between them, bouncing ideas back and forth late into the night. But more often than not, there was a comfortable silence between them as they worked on their own thing. It was nice, to have the company of another person in the same room without the obligation of conversing.

Then it was quiet again, after Bruce disappeared. The silence worsened as a rift formed between the Avengers and tore them apart, leaving the Tower empty and devoid of people. The labs never felt more empty, more quiet and Tony found himself missing Bruce’s presence despite how much he insisted that he preferred being alone. All blueprints for Avenger’s equipment was scrapped and hidden behind the strongest security wall. Tony once again found himself working endlessly on the Iron Man suit, isolating himself from the world and ignoring the bitter taste of betrayal on his tongue. Preparing himself for the battle to come (preparing himself to lose everything, again, for the upteenth time). 

Until he found Spider-Man.

Tony was overcome with a strong wave of protectiveness, wanting nothing more than to protect the boy who would selflessly stand in the way of danger to protect those around him, even if he was only wearing a hoodie and armed with homemade web shooters. A boy who wanted to stand by his side and face those that opposed him, placing all of his trust in Tony. He found himself creating a new suit, a Spider-suit, equipping it with a new AI and so many more functions than even Iron Man. His days were suddenly filled with how to make the suit better, how to best protect Spider-Man from the cruelness of the world around them. 

Not long after the events of Toomes, Tony invited Peter over to the labs to talk about suit upgrades. He wanted to make a suit that better suited Peter’s needs, and the only way to do that was to get his thoughts on it. After all, if he could remove the tracker and the Training Wheels protocol from the suit, he probably had something to say, right? To say Peter was ecstatic by the offer was a bit of an understatement but once he got a full tour of the area and they sat down to work, Tony was surprised to hear all the great ideas that Peter had. (In hindsight, he shouldn’t have been that surprised. This was the kid that made his own web shooters and web fluid in his chemistry class.)

Before long, lab days with Peter were a regular thing and Tony found himself enjoying each and every one. They would work on their own respective suits while catching up about events that occurred over the week (“I saved 6 cats this past week Mister Stark! That has to be a new record.”). Sometimes Peter would text Tony some plans for a new invention or Tony would call asking when he was free to work on a larger project together. Those always ended with Peter staying over for the weekend, holographic schematics floating around them as they working late into the night over midnight pizza. 

Those days never failed to be the highlight of his week. 

* * *

Today Peter was dropping by after school for Tony to add the latest upgrade to his suit. He arrived a little later than usual, greeting Tony and the robots before plopping into the chair at his station and swiveling to hand Tony his suit. “Here’s the suit Mister Stark!”

“Thanks kid, just leave it on the side there. I’ll take a look in a bit.” Tony gestured to the side of the table, where Peter spread out the Spider-suit before turning back to his own workstation. Both he and Peter knew that Peter was free to work on his own projects, no longer limited to the confines of his chemistry class to test new ideas.

It wasn’t long before the pair was engrossed in their own projects, with the occasional small talk and random questions to F.R.I.D.A.Y. filling the silence of the lab. Tony soon finished what he was working on and moved on to the Spider-suit, spreading it out in front of him and hooking it to the computer he had nearby. Immediately, several screens with various information popped up, Tony scanning each one as he closed some windows and opened others.

“Hey Pete, can you hand me the long-nosed pliers you used last week? Need them for a bit.” There was no response, and it was only then that Tony realized how quiet the labs were. “Pete?” 

Peter was unconscious, slouched over his table. Tony could now see prominent the bags under his eyes were and mentally berated himself for being too engrossed in his own work to realize it as he stood from his seat. He hovered over the teen, not sure whether to wake him up or if there was another reason he was unconscious.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., scan Peter for me.”

“Right away, Boss.” A few seconds passed. “Seems Peter fell asleep from staying up too late after patrolling last night.”

Tony sighed. “I told the kid to keep to curfew. He could have just stayed home if he was too tired to come in today.”

“Karen informs me he was back at the apartment at curfew, but stayed up late thinking about a new project he had in mind. He was excited to work on it as well as spend time with you in the labs today.”

“Ah.” Tony smiled softly before taking a deep breath and, with some difficulty, lifting Peter and making his way over to the spare bed in the labs. Gently, he lowered Peter on to the mattress, careful not to wake the sleeping teen, and draped a thin blanket over him. He ran a hand through Peter’s curls a few times, Peter sighing softly and relaxing. Tony chuckled softly before making his way back to his workstation.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., let me know when Peter wakes up. I want to see that project he was so eager to work on.”

“Sure thing Boss.”

Seemed he wasn’t the only one that looked forward to their lab days together.

**Author's Note:**

> For WaiiKitsune's birthday! It's still your birthday over here so I'm _technically_ not late! 
> 
> Come find me at [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/Chibichibichu) or check my profile for other places to find me :)


End file.
